With the onset of public use of the Internet® and the World Wide Web, secure handling of sensitive data has become an important issue. Unauthorized users or hackers, have become very sophisticated in their techniques for accessing sensitive data. It is more and more common for the hackers to steal and use for illegal purposes, private information such as social security numbers, driver's license numbers, calling card numbers, bank account numbers, and credit card numbers. At the same time, users are increasingly demanding that data be both mobile and secure. Although networks, such as the Internet, can transmit data from one computer to another, users often must identify and transmit the data they need to the proper destination by providing some form of identification information which is also prone to attack from hackers. The data is also often routed through, and stored in, unsecure servers or network devices which can be intercepted and further compromise security.
Therefore, there is a need for more secure delivery and storage of sensitive data.